Rising Tide 8 (live coverage) | Uptown Messenger – Journalist Robert Morris covered the Rising Tide new media conference held Saturday at Xavier University of Louisiana. The featured speaker was retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, who delivered a stemwinder on environmental justice. Other panels focused on charter school accountability (live-blogged by The Lens), creating community for writers of color, and New Orleans’ tourism-based economy.

Environment

Louisiana’s Office of Mineral Resources waived nearly $6 million in penalties against mineral extraction companies and failed to collect a further $1.4 million in royalty payments between 2008 and 2012, according to a report released Monday by the state Legislative Auditor.

“It’s really going to tie Algiers together in a way it hasn’t seen in many years,” said New Orleans City Councilwoman Kristin Palmer, an original proponent for the levee path in Algiers. “Really, this is unprecedented.”

Criminal Justice

Pete Adams, director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, said no one has suggested going through the criminal statutes to do a “clean up.”

He said the attitude has been that as along as nobody is trying to enforce the unconstitutional laws, there is no reason to tackle the subject.

“It’s only when something like the recent stuff in Baton Rouge comes up does it get attention,” said Adams, referring to the anti-sodomy arrests [in a sting operation by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office]. “I think cleaning up that one statute has got to happen now.”

Mark Moseley blogs at Your Right Hand Thief. Until mid 2014, Mark Moseley was The Lens' opinion writer, engagement specialist and coordinator for the Charter Schools Reporting Corps. After Katrina and the Federal Flood he helped create the Rising Tide conference, which grew into an annual social media event dedicated to the future of New Orleans.